The Ancient
by MathieuTobias2435
Summary: Rachel is revived by a mysterious god, worshipped by an equally mysterious people: the Gantharins. No one knows much about them. Why? Because they've destroyed nearly every race they've encountered. And guess what? Humanity is next.
1. Chapter 1

Animorphs

The Ancient

(A fan fiction)

Okay, this is my first fanfiction. Sorry the chapter's kind of short. Chapter Two will be posted soon.

**Chapter One**

_Awaken._

I sat up bolt right, my head hitting the bottom of my bunk bead painfully. "Ow," I said plainly, stupidly, holding my head. Wait. Bunk bead? I didn't have a bunk bead. But... I did now? I shook my head – which throbbed in pain – and got up to investigate. Opening the bedroom door, I stepped out into the hall, and shivered. It was freezing!

I made my way to the thermostat. 32 degrees Fahrenheit?! "Lunatics," I muttered, turning the temperature up to 75.

I walked into the kitchen to find my mother making breakfast. "'Morning, mom," I said, not bothering to bring up the thermostat incident. It was probably just an accident, anyway. No big deal.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied in a low murmur.

That's when my mom turned around. Okay, it's really – and I mean _really _– hard to tell you exactly how wrong she looked. First of all, her eyes... Well, her eyes weren't really eyes, per Se, but more like black glass balls. Her face was twisted and contorted, dead-looking, so she looked kinda like those zombies from _Resident Evil. _

"Y-you're not my mom." I said shakily, yet matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean, honey?" she asked inncoently. "OF COURSE I'M YOUR MOTHER!" She said the last part with the voice of a demon, and then she changed into a bat-like demon creature, her eyes burning red, but the color pulsating like fire, orange and yellow and red around the edges.

And then she lunged at me with such ferocity, I didn't bother to fight back, as a feeling of doom and despair enveloping me. Besides, I deserved whatever I got. For what I had done, for I had let happen, I deserved to die.

Then she cut my head off with a single strike. And the whole world was spinning around me as my head flew through the air. "NEVER touch my thermostat, honey," my mother said – her voice back to normal, though her body was not – picking up my head, bringing it to eye level. And then she shoved me into her beak-like mouth and everything went black as I went down... down...

Down.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I woke up screaming and sweating. Not that I wasn't used to that. Nightmares had been a common thing for me ever since Rachel and Tom died. But this was different. It had been so... realistic. And yet I knew that I had never seen anything such as that before. It had to be a warning. It just had to be. No one has dreams as vivid or twisted as that. And I swore that I had seen that creature before... So it must have been a warning.

But a warning for what? What had the dream been trying to tell me? I understood that I was now in danger, but from what? I decided to put those thoughts out of my mind and try to have a normal day. A normal day for me, at least. The kitchen was empty, but the time was 9:30, so my parents must have already left. I proceeded to pour myself a bowl of cereal and ate rather slowly. When I was done – after like 15 minutes – I cleaned out my bowl and went outside.

And I just sat there on the grass I thought about different things for a little while – mostly about the war with the Yeerks and all I had done and those whose deaths I was responsible for – but after awhile I just stared into space. I'm not really sure how much time passed with me just sitting there, but after awhile the thought of Rachel and my brother Tom returned to me. I wondered if I could really have stopped their deaths. Could there – would there – have been any other way. Oh, how I wished that I knew. More importantly, I wished I had know at the time.

Then, almost involuntarily, I got up from the grass and walked the short distance to my car. I got in, and put the key in the ignition. Only then did it occur to me that I had the same closed on that I had worn yesterday. It didn't really matter, though. I wouldn't need clean clothes for this. I pulled out of the driveway and made my way down the road.

I was going to go see Rachel today.

So what do you think? Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Animorphs

The Ancient

(A fan fiction)

Again, my apologies for the shortness of this chapter. Anyway, time for the plot to be fully layed out! So here it is! Enjoy.

**Chapter Two **

I arrived at the graveyard in no time at all, and as usual security let me in like old friends – because they were. I immediately found Rachel's grave and sat down by it. And then I started talking to her. For the first time since that fateful day, I talked to my cousin Rachel. I mean, I was literally _talking _to her as in back-and-forth conversation. She just appeared right in front of, inhumanly beautiful as ever woth her fine, blond hair and her sparkling blue eyes. Just like before she died.

"Hey, Rachel," I said. Weird how this all seemed so comfortable. Like things were back to normal again. Like she'd never died.

"Wha....?" She sounded so very disorientated, looking around drowsily. That wasn't like old times. She'd been gone for such a long time, I couldn't expect much else. But she was _here_ with me, and she shouldn't have been. She was dead. She should have stayed dead. And _I _should have left right then and there. This wasn't right. I had no idea what I was about to start. What I had _already_ started by just talking to her; by just acknowledging her presence there before me.

Instead, I laughed. Laughed manically and uncontrollably. It was pure joy, having her back, hearing her voice again. And yet having her here with me felt... _normal. _"Hey," she said, back into focus slightly, though she spoke slowly, trying to get used to the language she had knowledge of, but hadn't spoken in two years. "What's so funny?"

When I finally managed to stop laughing, and after constant insults from and whining from Rachel, I said, "Nothing, Rachel. It's just... great to have you back." And it was.

She smiled, but with a faraway look in her eyes. "Yeah... Great to be back." She paused and tilted her head slightly, her expression curious. "Where have I been again?"

I chuckled. "Well, I don't know, Rachel," I said jokingly. "You tell me!"

She laughed along with me.

"Are you two having fun?" said a slightly tenor male voice. We both looked over to our right – well, Rachel's left – and there stood a young man in a pitch black robe with the hood down, and with haggard, yet slightly full hair, light brown, with almost blond tints, though in a natural way. It was cut short, but the back almost to his shoulders. His face was a bit oval-like, kind of Polish mixed with Scottish, and he was very pale. But his eyes... his eyes were the most vibrant shade of red I had ever seen, and were slightly wide, in an alert, insane, and almost paranoid sort of way. "Forgive me," he said, his lips curving into sly smile, as though he had some sort of inside joke we couldn't comprehend. "Does my appearance... unnerve you?"

"Um..." Was all I could say. Rachel on the other hand...

"No, not at all, sir," she said calmly, not missing a beat. "It just... surprised us. That's all. But if you don't mind my asking..." She paused. "What ARE you?" That might not have been the best thing to say. _Typical of Rachel, _I thought. _Go ahead and make the crazy stranger mad, why don't you. _The man's lips twitched into a brief smile the moment I though that, and then he looked at Rachel, grinning a manic grin.

"I'm glad you asked, my dear," he beamed. "Although my true name is unspeakable with these feeble vocal chords, the people on my planet call me M'dralathu. To them I am the God of Destruction, Madness, Pain, and Change."

"Then... why are you here... and not on your own planet?" I asked shakily.

"Boy, do not fear me, for I will not harm you. I have already given you a gift."

"What gift?" I retorted.

He pointed to Rachel. "Why, that one right there, my boy,"

"You mean... _you_ brought Rachel back?" I asked.

He nodded his head. "I had too," he replied. "For she is a vital piece of the events that are about to unfold. You and all your friends are about to play a key role in a war that could decide the fate of the universe... and life itself. You will also decide whether this apocalypse starts or not."

"But if you're the God of Destruction, then wouldn't you want an apocalypse?" Rachel asked.

He sighed. "I never said I was on your side. I simply had to allow this war to take place. You see, since I am the God of Change, I am also the God of Prophecy and Happenings, and so resurrecting your friend I stay true to my sphere."

"So what is this war? Who are we fighting? The Kelbrids? The Yeerks? The Skrit Na? The Taxxons? The Andalites?" Rachel's questioning may have gone on for a lot longer if M'dralathu hadn't cut her off.

"No, my child. You are about to face off against the race whom worships me and my family. They are the most war-like, brutal, destructive, violent, and cruel beings in existence. You are about to go to war with the Gantharin race. They have destoryed three past home-planets – all their own home-planets – in the past 10,000 years, and they lived on Anuara – their first home-planet for 70,000 years. All planets were destroyed by endless civil war, as well as a draining of resources in war efforts against countless other species. The Andalites faced them once, you know. And they lost. Badly. They don't even speak about it anymore, and they've probably all but forgotten it. Personally, I don't think you stand a chance."

"Wait, wait, wait." I said. "What the Ellimists? And Crayak?"

"The Ellimists have no influence in this. This is a matter of the Gantharin pantheon, and the Ellimists learned not to interfere in our affairs the hard way. Same goes for Crayak. My parents out-date even him. Speaking of which, you should know exactly what the Gatharins believe, and what they look like." We nodded our acceptance. We were honestly too intrigued to speak. "Very good. First of all, they look just like I have appeared to you. Secondly, my mother and father are Rothmira and An-Dragath. In the beginning, though, they were the primordial beings, Ezas – the primordial being of Time – and Ythgora – the primordial being of Chaos – respectively. They created the universe and became Rothmira – the Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Sexuality – and An-Dragath, the God of War. Together they had four children: Me, Nemae, Goddess of Vengeance and Wrath, Gurandua, God of the Hunt, and Tellanira, Goddess of Wisdom. So here's how it works: You have my father and the Goddess of Wrath against you, and those _with _you are my brother, Gurandua, and my sister, Tellanira. And me... well, I'm neutral. I just pull the strings, my friends.

"But good luck to, you. Because luck is just about all you can have when the God of War wants you dead!" he chuckled loudly, throwing his head back. Smoke began to envelope him, curling and expanding further. "Farewell..." A demonic voice whispered cryptically. The voice sounded just like the one from my dream! At that thought, the voice chuckled triumphantly.

And then the smoke cleared, and the God of Destruction was gone.

"Well, that was... interesting..." Rachel said, unsure.

I grabbed her sleeve lightly. "We have to gather the others!" I said. Rachel nodded in agreement. "Okay I'll get Marco and – "

"I'll get Tobias." she said firmly. I looked at her sadly, but she just looked at me with proud, sure, and defiant eyes. I sighed. No way I was changing her mind.

"Okay, just... just make it as... easy for him as possible... if you can." I said, and she nodded sadly. Strange how tight her bond with Tobias was. Even after death, she must have still been in love with him. "And I'll get Cassie, too." I finished.

I told her where to find Tobias, and then we went our separate ways.

I hope you like the story, and please review to tell me what you think!


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